I get all overexcited about manta rays on the podcast Science On Top… an episode, since I left my Skype recording program on for the entire duration, that I rescued just for you! Some context first. This happens to be one of my favourite essays by Douglas Adams (and you can also find a copy in his ‘last’ book, The Salmon of Doubt) – ‘Riding The Rays‘: Every country is like a particular type of person. America is like a... Read more

The part that caught my eye (full transcript here)? “I am at an enviable stage of my professional life. With my international reputation I am fortunate enough to be invited to lecture, operate, direct courses and spend time in foreign neurosurgical programs as visiting professor. I see it as an opportunity to keep abreast of current trends in clinical medicine and basic science research and in so doing, ensure that Australian patients with neurosurgical conditions are getting the very best... Read more

6th World Skeptics Congress, May 18-20, 2012 in Berlin, Germany – full details at the official site at http://www.worldskeptics.org. Also note, there’s four guided tours of the city, including one of the Natural History Museum! As the Facebook page says: “Hi Folks, in a couple of days, we will present a new website…be curious about it…”

Yes, I’m still not “blogging”. I’m still wildly busy. As in “nearly to the end of the job I’m doing and sending off the project that has made me alternate between tears (good ones, as in being moved to sobs) and unfettered admiration” – but also a time that a quirky and rather pathetic little mystery has been solved… that has demonstrated that I am so lucky to have friends and allies online, and also firmly reminds me to not... Read more

I’ve already done some work on the issues surrounding this issue: see Episode Eighty-Two – On Forty Days Of Treats – Interview . A partial interview with Liz was published in the UK Skeptic Magazine under “Kylie Sturgess and Tessa Kendall on sceptical activism and the abortion debate” (Volume 23, Edition 2 – which you can buy here). For some context: the original September 2011 amendment to the bill by MPs Nadine Dorries and Frank Field was withdrawn when pressure was placed upon... Read more

From a forthcoming episode of the Token Skeptic Podcast (if you’re not familiar with the show, try episode #60 – the best of) – an interview with Rhys Morgan. In related news, Maryam Namazie, via One Law for All, is calling for a rally in defence of free expression and the right to criticise religion on 11 February 2012 in central London from 2-4pm. “We are also calling for simultaneous events and acts in defence of free expression on 11 February in countries... Read more

I remember telling a group of friends at Dragon*Con in 2009 about my sleepwalking habit – and in return was asked if I’d ever heard of Mike Birbiglia. Because of that question, I started listening to This American Life and haven’t stopped since. This month I saw Ira Glass on his “Reinventing Radio” tour; with an iPad and a microphone, he told us not only the story of the show but some of the stories behind the stories. Before the night... Read more

From Pro-Choice America: The numbers don’t lie: anti-choice politicians in Washington, D.C. and the states attacked a woman’s right to choose with a vengeance in 2011. What’s worse, these very same politicians are ready to resume the attacks here in Washington, D.C. and in state legislatures across the country.